Safety device for printing presses



May 25 1926. 1,586,183

H. DEL VECCHIO SAFETY DEVICE FOR PRINTING PRESSBS Filed May 51 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inf V5555; I /wm mom/Era May 25 1926; H. DEL VECCHIO SAFETY DEVICE FOR PRINTING PRESSES 5 Sheets-Shet 2 A TTORNE Y5 Filed May 31 IV/T/Vf Q biliuuumu May 25, 1926.

H. DEL VECCHlO SAFETY DEVICE FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed May 51 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR' WWW;

A TTORIVEVS Patented May 25, 1926.

ATENT OFFICE.

HUMBERT DEL VECCHIO, OF WEST NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

Application filed May 31,

This invention relates to printing presses, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to that type of press employing reciprocating carriers whichreoeive the printed material or sheets discharged from the printing rolls or plates of the press, and carry them to a discharge point, and aims to provide such presses with safety devices which are adapted to automatically stop such presses the moment a sheet or sheets are caught in the press or fail to be discharged therefrom, with consequent clogging of the press, spoilation of valuable printed material or sheets, danger of fire, damage to the press, the latter resultii'ig in costly delays and tie-ups of the presses, and of the plant of which the press or presses form a part.

It is an object of the invention to provide safety devices of the general character heretofore referred to, and particularly safety devices which shall be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, readily applicable to any press or presses of the class referred to without modifying such press or presses, which shall work with certainty. easy and reliable, which will work in conjunction with the standard equip ment of the presses, which shall not easily get out of order or impair in any way the operation of the moving parts of the press or presses, and which possesses other advantages in use to be pointed out hereinafter in the specification.

Au illustrative embodiment of the invention will be described in the accom 'iai'iying specification and shown in the annexed drawings. It is, of course, understood that the invention is not limited to the specii'ic embodiment illustrated and described. since manifestly the same could be changed without in the least departing from the spirit of the invention.

Figure 1 shows a top plan view of the output end of a printing press employing a reciprocating carrier for picking up the printed materiz'il discharged from the printing rolls or plates of the press, and carrying such material to the discharge end of the press, together with the device embodying an example of this invention attached thereto.

Figure 2 shows a broken portion of the press in side elevation, with a device form- 1923. Serial No. 642,405.

ing the subject matter of this invention in place.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of such device shown attached to a cross bar of the press.

Figure at is a longitudinal sectional view ofthe device taken on lined-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of the device taken on line 5-5 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 shows a device embodying a modified form of the invention.

Figure '7 is a longitudinal sectional view oi the modified form of the device taken on line T T of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a cross sectional view of the said modified form of the invention taken on line 88 of Figure 7.

before describing the invention, as illustrated, a brief discussion of the disadvantages and diiiiculties hitherto encountered in the operation of presses of the class in question will be had. The printing presses employing slidable carriers which pick and carry the printed material or sheets from the printing rolls or plates are provided with a gas burner near the out-put end of the press or presses for the purpose of drying the printed sheets as tl1ey .are discharged from the press, and for the further purpose of breaking or inillifyi'ng the electrostatic charges generated in the material or sheets of paper as they travel along the press and rub against the various parts of the said press. The flame of this gas burner is exposed in such a manner that it may contact with the printed material or sheets of paper which the carrier carries from the printing side of the press to its discharge end. In fact, in order to break the electrostatic charge in the printed material or sheets of paper, it is necessary that the flame of the burner is applied as near as possible to the printed material. It frequently occurs that, for many reasons well-known in the printing industries, and especially in those printing plants where the type of presses above referred to, are used, some of the printed material or sheets of paper carried by the carrier fail to be discharged, and as the carrier moves rearwardly toward the rollers or printing plates of the press, to pick up the next printed sheet, the sheet which has failed to discharge is prevented from traveling with the carrier by certain parts of the printing press, and thereby forced to bulge up. The bulging of a sheet of paper yer disastrous. such occurrencc'not only destroys that sheet ht n ipdr, but also tip the machine, ireventing the passage and destroying all the other su 'cquent sheets picked up by the car 'ier liet ause the at-st tinged sheethecomes an obstruction in the carrier. Such a clogging is generally known in the printing trade as a congestion. Unless the-press is stopped as soon as a congestion starts, the loss ot a valuable 'quantity' ot printed material may be accompanied by a breakage of c'ertain 'parts'of the press which cannot withstand thepressure of the augmenting mass of congested papers or printed material. Generally, to avoid such congestions, a persen or helper is placed at the *out 'put end of tlic press who has the duty of watching for congestion aird stopliiing the press when such a congestion takes place, and, of course, outside of the increased'costof the operation of the-press, -the sain'eyfor its successful 0p- "eratlon, depends upon the ethc-iency or deficiencies of such man or helper. But the trouble-of a bongestionor congestions besides the destruction of valuable material and possible breakage of the machine often times develop into inore disastrous results for the caught material on the carrier is apt to catch fire from'the gas burner above pointed out. In fact, in man y instances lire resulting from such congestions-not only damages the press on which the fire takes place, but endangers also theotherparts of thepla'nt of which the press forms a part. The device forming the subject matter of this invent-ion shall entirely eliminate all the above discussed difiiculties and disastrous results'a-nd besides prolonging the life of the press, diminish the hazards to which printing plants are subject, and decrease the cost of operation of the same because the helper rcquired'at the output end of the press may be dispensed with.

Referring to the aforesaid illustrative em- .bodimentof the invention, and more particularly to the drawing illustrating the same:

In the drawings, a frame 10 convenientl mounts a carriage 11 which is reciprocated back and forth by suit-able means 12, said means 12 being connected to'an eccentric or a crank moving-in conjunction with the rollers or shafts of the press. The foregoing description briefly covers the principal parts of a printing pre ss oi the character above referred'to, and since the press proper forms 'no subject matter'o-f the invention onlythose parts necessary to understand the function of the press is illustrated and described.

On the carriage 11 is mounted a rod 13 which in turn inounts'a plurality oi guiding fingers H which form a stop forthe sheet 'on'the' carrieiu when the carrierreceives said sheet, and which slightly swing on their pi'-.-'

oted end when the carriage is about to discharge said sheet into a magazine (not shown) purposely provided and arranged below the carrier at ,theout-put end of the hi'ess. i A Q 1 J f f 1 On the said carriage 11 is also mounted a rod 15 which extends parallel with the rod 13 'ai 'd ivhi'c'h increase"pluralit of guiding; tines l6, the ofiice or" which is that of receiving, spread artisans sheet of paper or other material delivered by the straps 17 from the printing rolls or plates of the press. Immediately below, the tines 16 and in a position adjacent the forward end of said straps 17, is arranged athirdrod 1 8 Which-mounts a plurality of detaining fingers 19, the office of which is that of forming an obstruction at the inner edge of the printed material or sheet of-paper when the carriage is moving rearwardly for picking the next sheet of paper or material. Hence, byineans of the tines 16, the detaining fingers l9 and the guiding lingers 14, the printed material or sheet or paper is picked from the straps 1?,

and carried toward the rear end'of the machine and discharged there on the return stroke of the carriage 11.

The printing-presses oi the type above rcicrred to are generally provided with a gas burner in the form of a pipe 20 extendi adjacent the output end of the press and substantially parallel with the rods 13 and 15. By means of this gas burner, the electrostatic charge created in the sheets of paper in their travel along the printing press, and in their rubbing action against the parts of the printing press, is nullified or destroyed by its flame. v

Heretolore, a brie; description of the printing press has been made and hereinafter the device or devices forming; the subject i'natter of this invention will be des-cribed. The devices are indicated by the letter A in Figures 1 and 2, and they are secured to the frame of the press, pretcraln to the stationary cross bar 23, the latter heing arranged in the proximit of the rear end of the stroke of the car-age ii.

The illustrated example oi the device zrshown inoie in detail in Figures 3 to 8, in elusive, comprise a bar 30, preferably made 01'? channel or angle iron so as to have a better rigidity grind it is turned upwardly at both ends, as at 31 and 32, so as to preseru; a flaring entry thereunder of the'printed material or sheet of paper carried by the tines 16 of the-carrier. Intermediate the ends oi the said bar, are formed a plurality of openings 33 and at each face of the same are secured by means of rivets or bolts 34- insulating blocks'35 and 36, the material of of said'openings 33 are formed bores 37, through which extend the shank of slidable elements 38 which may be screws, or bolts, the top end of said screws a'e preferably threaded and to that end a nut or nuts 39 are threaded. It is here to be noted, that in place of said nuts any other means could be used which instead of being threaded to the shank 38 they can be welded, soldered or otherwise secured to the top end of the slidable elements. The lower end of the shank of each of said slidable elements 38 are formed with heads or enlargen'ients 69 and between said heads and the insulating block 36 at the lower face of the bar 30, is interposed an expansion spring 40 which tends to urge each of said slidable elements 58 downwardly. Preferably to the bar 30 may be secured a flexible element or spring tl by means of screws 4-2 or any other means serving the purpose of said screws. It will be noted that the said flexible element or spring 41 is held at a spaced relation "from the bar 30 or the insulating block 36, and that, normally, the heads 69 of the sliding element 38 bear against said spring element 41 for their being moved whenever the spring l is deflected. The spring l1 presents a smooth surface at its under side so as to present a smooth surface for the paper or printed material passing thereunder.

On the insulating block 35 l secure, by any approved means, aplurality of conductors 43, preferably in the form of fiat strips, which are separated from each other in the vicinity or at the sides of the slidable elements 38, the shanks of said slidable elements are out of contact with said condue tors 43 and are normally held in electrical connection with each other by the heads or nuts 39 which bear against them under the actions of spring 40. Hence, when either of the slidable elements 38 are slid upward ly, by a pressure against the spring element =11, the heads 39 separate from the conductors 43 and therefore, the electrical connec tion thcrcbetwceu is broken. To the endconductws on the insulating block 35, 1 secure, by means of lugs l l, forming a part of said em'l-conductors, insulating conductors 45 and 4-6 which are extended to the electrical equipment of the press or of the motor driving the press, as hereinafter more fully described.

Most printing presses, and especially those of the type above referred to, are equipped with a Cutler Hammer speed rep;- ulating apparatus or switches of a like tyl'ic made by other manufacturers, or" which in addition to the speed regulating characteristics are provided with automatic start and stop means controllable from points remote from the speed regulator. Generally, this is accomplished by placing at different points on the press proper a start end and stop push button station or box which is electrically connected with the speed regulator controlling the motor driving the press, and by pushing either one button or the other, on the box, the motor is either started or stopped automatically as the case may be. Since this speed regulator and automatic starter and stopper is not part of the invention, no references will be made thereto except by stating that the conductors 45 and to of the device above described are connected in series with the contacts in the box or station controlling the stopping operation of the speed regulator. so as to place in series with said contacts in the box the separated conductors 43 which, as above pointed out, are normally electrically interconnected by the heads or nuts 39, and therefore whenever any one of the said nuts or heads are moved away from said conductors, the electrical circuit of the stopper of the speed regulator is broken as if the stopping button of the control station on the press was manually pushed to open the circuit.

It is thus seen that whenever a sheet of paper or other material fails to discharge and bulges on the tines 16 ot' the carrier 11, a 1.)ressu.re takes place under the flexible element or spring 41 which in turn presses against the slidable element 38 and forces any one of the heads 39 away from the conductors 13 resulting in a break of the circuit to the stopping control on the speed regulating box. It is here to he noted that the printing press once stopped remains stopped until started manually by pushing the start button, or otherwise, therefore, once the press has been stopped manually, it remains stopped until the operator starts it, as after he has cleared the congestion, assuming that the press has been automatically stopped by the device above described.

in Figures 6, 7 and 8, a modified l mlll oi the invention is illustrated, and in this Form instead of using slidable contacts, such as contact fixed contacts are employed, all of which are permanently intercounected by means of conductors 51 which are led to onev oi the lead-in wires of a magnet o The opposite lead-in wire of the said magnet 52 is connected to a source of electrical current 53. The opposite side ct said source of electrical current 5Z3 is connected by means of conductor 5st to one of the securing means 42 which hold in place the flexible element or spring &1. The flei'ible element 41 is normally out of contact with the tired contact 51 and whenever a bulged paper passes or takes place under the said flexible element 41. the said element deflects u i wardly against any one of the stationary CORltt-ICQS 50 and thereby closes the electrical circuit to the magnet 52. The circuit when the flexible element is in contact with any one .o-f contacts 5.0'is as follows: Outof oneside of the source of electrical current 53, through conductoro l to .-the flexible element 411 the stationary contact .50, from the stationary -C01Lt;t8t to the conductor 51, to one of the lead-in wires ottheinagnet out of the other lead-in Wire of the same magnet, through conductor and back to the source of electrical supply 53. lV-hen .the mag-net is energized, by the closing of the .springeleuient '-.l;l on any one of the contact-s50, the plunger '56 in the elect-rolnagnet is forced inwardly, and assuming for a moment that the said e-lectroniagnet is arranged adjacent a switch controlling the supply to the. inotor of the press, the plunger in its inward n'io einent could .very well open such switehand stop the unotor, or assuming that the electroinagnet was arranged near and connected to the mechanicalautoinatic stop with which most .ot the printing presses are now provided with, the plunger upon its inward movement could very well actuate saidautonnuic mechanical stop as if it had been studied by hand. But since it is preferable that the motor driving the press is stopped through the regular controls employed in the cl ctrical equipment of thepress, .it is best to place in the circuit of the stopper of the controller the head or plate 5. carried by the plunge 56 and connected with said circuit by means of conductors and 59 and contact points 60 and 61. \Vlien the magnet is tlQ-k3IlQ1' gizeu the .head 5'? under the action of the expansion spring 156 bears on the contact point 60 and 61 and thereby the circuit; to

the stopper on the controller of the motor is closed, and when the magnet energized the head 57 moves away from said contacts (30 and 61 against the pressure of spring and the said *ircuit of the controller stopper is ope-net. and the said stopper on the motor controller actuated. 3y means of this form of the invention the device may he applied to am stop means new in use in connection with the press and does not limit the device to its connection to the electrical stopper on the speed regulator forming part of the equipment of the prr Either i'orin of the device is attached to the cross bar 21 by means of the clamp (3:3 and holts ii-l, or any other approved means applicable. The devices are adjustable on the said bar "ll so that their spaced relation with respect to the sheets on the tines 16 may be varied.

I would state, in conclusion, that While the illustrated examples constitute practical cinbodinients of my invention, I do not limit myself strictly to the exact details herein illustrated, since, manifestly, the same can be considerably varied without departure .frointhe spirit of the inventiornas defined in the appended claims.

.heing or sheets of ,niaterialss ng thereby, and

.a stat a flexible .e e uentin the proximity. of said .8

BEST AVAILABLE copy Wha chime ,mykin sn iei i A af ty da -H l-p i s .emu-isles a fear securedtp the fran e of the .prej sgka stationary electrical. contact carried by said ir rnarv contact, a flenihle element fl'i elow I cal contacts, said flexiblefelmept pted to ;be 1110 d by ,ahulged sheet i erabl usin wh n th and when so inored moving the nioifahle c ontacts 16 inorahle velectricalleohtgret for moving the same and conductors connected :,t;0 S. d,contending .to the electrical,controlhhox for 1 Y;l ig ,the current in It id lion fin respenseito the inc .id flexible elje'nient and" nov; t

safety ,dcvicefor presses, a l ar. neans for .ad ustably clarnplng lock ari'ungulonsa lhar, stationari al contacts carried by said unsulati ng .si'at:onai.' contacts being sepato the ifranie ot'thepress, ;u1 insur each other, inori-xhle contacts extending between said stationary contacts 1.1. .l 11:, nally bridging said stationary contaci's and placing them inscries with each other, means for moving sg aid n io vahle conti-cts and crnuluctors connected to the stat' iarr contactstoplace thesanie in circuit 1G5; V th the electrical. circuit of the standard electrical equipment of the printing press so that said circuit may hecorne interrupted the moment any of the movable contacts more away .i'ro n the stationary contacts. 1

-l-. in a safety device "for printing pre. cs, :1 lltil remorahl and :uljustahly secured to the frame o l the press and presenting at one end. a plurality of openings, a slidahle interrupter arranged in each opening, station-- 1 any electrical tcrniinals arranged adjacent said openings and conductors connected with said teruiii'ials for placing said terminals in series with an cletrical circuit CUM.) oil ng the ping s. .i press when either of said interrupters are moved array from said stationary terminals.

:3. 1n a safety device for printing presses ltl mover of the press for stopinning a motor control, a bar detachahly se- 15547 [bridging members normally connecting said conductors in series with each other, said 3 bridgingmembers when a congestion takes place inthe press moving away from said conductors'break the circuit of the motor control.

- 6. In colnbinatiolrwith a printing press,

; having'an electrical apparatus for controllingfthe movements thereof and'a moving carrier on its output end,fot a bar secured to the frame of the press and disposed over the,movingcarrier, a pair or" electrical terminals carried by said bar, one of said terminalsbeing movable in the circuit of said electrical apparatus, and a flexlble element between said electrical terminals andthe marality of holes intermediate its ends, a clamp for adj ustablyand detachably securing said [said blocks presenting ."tion with the holes in barlto theframe of the press, an insulating block secured tot-he upper and lower faces ,ofsaid bar in the proximity of said holes,

openings in registrathe bar, a conductor at each end of one of said blocks, separate conductors extending between said openings 1n theblocks in line with said end conductors, a lead connected to each end conductor,

said leads Iplacing'said end conductors in the OlrCultOf the electrical control of the press,

and slidable means passing through said holes in the bar, "andsaid openings in the blocks and carrying bridging members at one endsand normally connectmg said end conductors and the conductors between openings in series with each other, said slidable means when moved being adapted to interrupt the circuit of said electrical control of the press. e

8. In a safety device for printin presses, having a motor control, a bar, a clamp for securing said bar to the frame of the Press, an insulating block carried by said bar, a plurality of separate conductors mounted on said bar, slidable means moving between said conductors and normally connecting one to the other, springs on said slidable means for urging the same in one direction, a flexible element carried by said bar and bear ing against one end of said slidable means. said flexible element being moved by the congestion of material taking place in the press and when moved, it moving said slid able means away from said conductors, and leads placing all of said conductors in series with the electrical circuit of the motor controller of the press, whereby when any one oi said slidable means is moved by said flexible element, the circuit of said controller is broken. 7

9. In a safety device forprinting presses having a motor control, a plurality ofslidable contacts, a bar mounting said slidable contacts and holding the same adjacent the out-put end of the press so that any bulged sheet of material passing through the press will effect said slidable contacts, a circuit which said slidable contacts are adapted to break when moved, conductors for placing said circuit in the circuit of the controller of the motor driving the press, and means for urgin said slidable contacts in the position for ciosing said circuit.

HUMBERT DEL VECGHIO. 

